Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Taste of Guatemala Day 24...
Hi,
Well this is probably the biggest part of Guatemala Mormon’s life…Morcaff…I don’t know if I ever told you about this but in my first area this is what we drank everyday for breakfast and now in Las Flores we drink it almost every day or night because it is so cold! It is like coffee but is is made from corn (big surprise) but also oats and flour and other healthy things. Try it out! The first time I didn’t like it but now I love it! (after 18 months) so you probably won’t like it but I had to send it!
Directions: a small spoonful for a liter of water boiling then strain it and drink it with lots of sugar your first time. Also, if you add milk it is great!

Taste of Guatemala Day 25 the Crowning Day!!!
Well no note today…but a phone call!!! But our last gift besides the phone call was a beautiful Guatemalan table cloth, napkins and napkin holders! It was great!!! What a glorious Christmas to be able to talk to family no matter where they are! Merry Christmas!

Monday, December 24, 2012

Wow, so this week was very eventful. Monday came and went with no word about the changes Wednesday. We were both positive that I had changes though….wrong!!! We both had changes. So Tuesday was a sad day as we said goodbye to our investigators and the members here. I was pretty sad. This area is easily my favorite area for the members, converts, and friends I have made here. It was hard saying goodbye to this area. Wednesday morning I felt like Preston when he had unexpected changes and said I feel like a baby who had candy taken away from him. I felt sad and almost depressed! Even though I knew it was coming. I hate packing FYI!!! The #1 thing that is the worst!!! Well I will cut to the chase and tell you; well where I am…I am outside the capital again in an area call Barberena with an Elder Rios. Oh and I am also a Zone Leader! Crazy Stuff! Everyone freaked out when they announced that! It was a cool moment! So I’ll explain more about that further on, but first my area…I still am not used to being outside the capital…that means 1) it is a branch here…today the attendance was 39. 2) it is hot! But right now not too bad. I’m sweating sometimes but at night it is such a nice temperature! Makes me miss home and the St. George nights or California! I love the atmosphere in this town! It is so lively and energetic! If I had to compare it to the states it would be Las Vegas…there is a block of just bars and prostitutes. That’s kinda sketchy but that is why zone leaders are here Ha! 3) The people are a lot poorer! 4) it sometimes is a lot harder for the people to understand our message or feel the spirit and 5) our house is 2 little rented rooms. It is horrible! I don’t even want to take a video it is that bad! But we are changing next week so that is what gives me hope 6) No water heater outside the capital and here the water is ice cold! Literally! I hate showering. It is now a burden to shower, when before it was like what I looked forward to! But that also will change next week 
When I got here Wednesday night I was pretty bummed but now I have grown to love this area, it has a lot of potential! So as zone leader we are in charge of the Zone Cuilapa which has 22 missionaries and which covers basically all the way to the coast by Taxisco. Um I can’t think of anything else about the zone that would be interesting to tell. Oh I love having a cell phone. It is by far the best thing of being a zone leader! Hey you should call me ya? 4630 7417! Call me.
Think of a couple of questions for tomorrow. I have a couple of things to say that I probably shouldn’t say here so tomorrow. So Saturday night we were in the only restaurant here called Pollo Campero cause my companion had to use the bathroom when some members walked in from California! Talk about a small world!!! Their son served in the Salt Lake Mission about a year ago. So they wanted to buy us dinner…(mom thanks to you because you bought the missionaries lunch one time). I love this church, it is so amazing. I love the principles it teaches us. It definitely what the world teaches us.
We are teaching a recent convert who is going through some trials and is super sad and is angry with God, but he still has so many blessings! That is something I am so grateful for is that the church has helped me with my attitude and outlook on life. God has given and still gives us so many things that we don’t even deserve! I am so grateful to him for this church, for this opportunity to be a missionary in his work, for my family, for my health. Really everything depends on our outlook of life. One thing that I have noticed is that I have grown to be more humble to submitting to the will of the Lord (or at least I think, here we don’t really have a choice ) but with this convert we read with him “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten” by D. Todd Christofferson. But we focused on the example he used from President Hugh B. Brown. Read it! Cause it’s amazing and a great example of how sometimes we can’t see the whole picture, but God can, he knows where we’ve come from, why we are here and even better where we are going. Sometimes we want to do our own thing but he has other plans for us. We just have to be humble and submit ourselves to his will cause he knows better. Just be positive, love life, help out and give service this holiday season especially to the less fortunate or to those that just really need a hand right now. Be Happy! This church is true, I love it! I love you guys so much!!!

Sunday, December 23, 2012

A Taste of Guatemala Day 17...So Halls…These things are like candy here! Everyone eats them like candy and water! They are in every store and cost .25Q…These are my favorite flavors…grape and orange…

A Taste of Guatemala Day 18...Well today I am going to be super selfish and talk about myself. Apart of or A Taste of Guatemala is me! Cause I’m here now, I’ve been here for about 18 months now and I have enjoyed you guy’s support. It has pushed and motivated me to be the best missionary I can be, knowing that I have my own support group back home. Mom with your packages, and Dad with your hand written letters. These things (packages and letters are always filled with random awesome things. So I am going to ask for at least one more letter and one more package…BUT I’ve never received a hand written letter from you Mom or a package from you Dad. So that is your assignment…Mom an actual letter before I finish and Dad an actual package. (Doesn’t have to be big…) Dad can help Mom with the letter because he is basically a pro by now in letter sending and Mom can help Dad with a package cause she has it down to a science!
P.S. Here are the Starburst wrappers from the last package…we really enjoyed them…llenarl los!

A Taste of Guatemala Day 19...You guys are in for a treat today. These cookies are probably my favorite thing here in Guatemala! I love them, you can try them normal or put them in the micro wave for like 10 seconds…Super Good!!! Enjoy!

A Taste of Guatemala Day 20...We are definitely in a different culture with this one…it is one thing that I haven’t gotten used to, nor will I probably ever…But here they put salt on every fruit or vegetable, apples, strawberries, pineapple, oranges!!! I don’t get it. Also, if we are waiting for the food there is always a huge bowl of salt out and they will eat just salt. Also another thing is that they put lime on everything and chile! So here they got smart and combined it all together salt, lime and Chili!!! You at least need to try it!!!

A Taste of Guatemala Day 21...Well what would be A Taste Of Guatemala without seeing their “fichas”. Their coins are really cool. On each one has something really important to Guatemala. 1 Quetzal it has the “peace signature” which what ended the war here and it was signed December 29th 1996 and on the other side has their national emblem. .50 piece has the National flower on it called “Monja Blanca” or “White nun.” .25 piece has an indian woman (because there are a lot here). .10 piece has the statues of Quirgua, which are some ruins here (I’ve been there!!!) .05 piece have a huge tree on it. I think its called the seba or something like that. But it is huge!!! There are a ton here (more in Zacapa) but they are breath takingly big. It is ridiculous how big they are.

A Taste of Guatemala Day 22...
Hi Mom! I love and miss you so much! I don’t even know where to start to begin thanking you for everything. But I think I will start with a quote by James E. Faust which states “The influence of a mother in the lives of her children is beyond calculation.” And that is so true. Your influence on me has been huge and continues to be. I think I’ve said this before but the biggest thing I am grateful for that is a strength of yours has been your continual support in whatever I am pursuing from cross country, dance, school plays, student council, college, or the mission. You have always been 100% behind me encouraging me to pursue my dreams. I am so grateful for that!!! It didn’t matter how ridiculous it was you were there for me. But above everything I am so grateful for you guys teaching me and bringing me up in the gospel. I know you have a testimony. I can also say alongside the 2000 stripling warriors that you have taught me well (Alma 56:47-48). I feel like we have both grown while I have been out on my mission and I look forward to when we can be together as a family again…I love you!

Dad you’re such a stud…no really I am so grateful to have you as my dad. All the memories we have shared you have a lot to do with me becoming who I am today. Your love, patience, gentle and sometimes not so gentle, guidance throughout my teenage years. I am so grateful that you took part and interest in my life and that we share so many memories. Usted gano, sus hijes ya estan granes y todas estan por diferente caminos hacienda diferente cosas, palabras no puedan expresar la gratitude en mi Corazon por todo lo que ustedes me han ensenado y han hecho y por ensenando me sobre el Evangelio gracias. Te amo papi pecho peludo.

A Taste of Guatemala Day 23...Um Hi…I’m famoso. I was on national TV. You see we went to go help make some humanitarian kits for the earth quake in San Marcas and there were a bunch of News people and photographers taking my photo. But I had this vest on. Wherever we give service we have to wear them, kinda trendy, right?

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Oh hi family!
You guys are going to hate me, cause I didn’t write a letter last night, every Sunday night I have to collect the stats of the week for each area in the district, it isn’t hard but sometimes just time consuming, so usually I write it in the morning, but today we are using internet in Don Justo (our stake center!!) so we left earlier and so I didn’t have time to write it.... and right now I’m not in a really writy mood either.... so I probably won’t write a lot hahaha but I loved your letters!!! Thank you they were nice and long :)
I will share with you my thoughts and feeling as of late, because been awhile. I am alive and well, I cannot believe I have 18 months in the mission, in fact it scares me, I still feel new! but I love it here, I absolutely love the mission, I love all the lessons that I am learning and experiences that I am gaining also I love teaching, I love helping people change and accept Christ into their lives, and learning about the Restoration, it is amazing!!! There is nothing better than seeing someone accept the Gospel and truly turn their lives around and change. Guatemala is crazy! And it’s even crazier right now because for Christmas everyone lights off fireworks like every second!
Well just know that I am doing amazing! I love the Christmas season for the spirit that it brings, I love helping people and I miss you guys. I love you all, and I promise I might do better next week in my writing...
Mom does dad know that we are coming back? And how does he feel about that all?!?! Oh man mom I am so excited!!!!! Also up in Petén there is an island called Isla de las Flores or something like that, something I think would be worth seeing, also there is a zoo, that is like on a whole bunch of small islands up there that you have to travel by boat to go and see, I think that would be awesome, but would there be time for that up in Petén? Also depending on my last area if I only have one more or two more will change the things I will keep thinking about what we can do, where is your geocaches that you want to get?
Well we don’t know the transfers yet, I don’t want changes but I bet I will have them, and I could see myself opening up a new area and training, which would be.... fun during the holiday season, but I wouldn’t mind it, it would be a fun experience.
With Christmas would you like to Skype? I know it depends on my area but would you like too?
The baptism went amazing!!! It was the first time when I wasn’t stressed out or worried, a lot of things went wrong as always, like her blouse ripped right before, so we started pretty late but she was baptized!!!! Which is always amazing, the spirit was there and she felt it which is always our goal!

We had the Christmas devotional as missionaries this week, not gonna lie it was a lot different than last years, and I felt something was missing. Last year we played all morning ate and had a devotional and watch the 17 miracles movie, but this year we just had a 2 hour devotional and then ate, it was good but just wasn’t the same.... Also we had the ward Christmas party right after the baptism which was fun! They did a bunch of acts and we ate well!!!!
Ok mom a couple more small things of business, what thing would you like to do here in Guatemala, what would you like to see?
I love you!!! and I read the conference talk by President Eyring, and I will think about it for you but i think it’s too late now!!! LOVE YOU...Elder Call

Taste of Guatemala Day 12…Welcome to this day, I hope your having an amazing week! I love you! Well for today, I don’t know if you guys have heard but there are a ton of ancient ruins here in Guatemala. They are from the Mayans, pretty cool huh!!! The best part is that here is the Book of Mormon land so these ruins are…ancient Book of Mormon cities!
Anyways today you have an assignment to build these ruins. They are a representation of some ruins in Northern Guatemala…(that may or may not be true) but while you’re putting them together be thinking of the ruins here in Guatemala!!! Feliz Dia!

Taste of Guatemala Day 13...Okay…these crackers I thought were so random, but every store has them which means that everyone eats them! I thought they were only for kids but nope…They come with a packet of Jam to put on them, so be sure to eat them how they are intended!!! Provecho!!!

Taste of Guatemala Day 14...Howdy ya all!! Alrighty well today you have a great surprise! It’s a drink called Atol! It is a corn drink that is so Guatemala! (They make so many things from corn!) I doubt ya will like it. It took me a while to get used to it. But here they serve Atol ridiculously hot so hot you can’t drink it. It kinda bugs me how hot they serve it, but I love it now! I included 2 different flavors: original and vanilla. Vanilla is super good and well the other…you’ll see. Directions: boil 1 cup milk in other cup mix the powder with more milk once well mixed, add it to the boiling milk (the amount really doesn’t matter depends if you want it to be strong or not and also how many people) add sugar.

Taste of Guatemala Day 15...Alright well you guys are probably thinking why did I send you guys trash!?! Well it’s not trash, it’s water! OK well it’s trash but before it was a bag of water! The thing is, is that the majority of the purified drinking water comes in bags! Ya buy it in whatever random small street store call a “Tienda” and then just bite off the corner and start sucking. That was one of the weirdest things to get used to at first, but now its normal! Prices: in areas hot aka Zacapa: 1Q…in all other areas .50Q.

Taste of Guatemala Day 16...So what would be the taste of Guatemala without their different bills? Well Guatemala is really dirty including the bills, so I decided to only send new ones home so you guys wouldn’t be grossed out. But these are what we use here. Also they have bills of 50, 100, 200. But they are really expensive and I am really poor…so enjoy these bills!!!

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Day 9...On the 9th day of Christmas our Chaddy sent to us...Horchata!! I think they have this in the states, but I love it so much! The real stuff is so much better but this is also really good. In Zacapa this is all we would drink but super cold!!! Directions: add to 1 liter cold milk (or water).

Day 10...On the 10th day of Christmas our Chaddy sent to us...Money!!! This was Brooke’s favorite of course…money. The Note is kind of hard to read…so this is what it says…So like 2 months ago they came out with new bills of Quetzals! So they were circulating…here is a hefty collection of some. They are interesting how they make them, before they were paper but now they are slowly changing all the bills to plastic…I sent a lot home so you guys can keep them or give them out as you wish, at work, or in your class or however you wish.

Day 11...On the 11th day of Christmas our Chaddy sent to us: The note reads…Here is another weird thing (at least for me) but I bet Dad will love them. It is like a creamy chocolate cream with different flavors. I hadn’t tried them until like a week before I made the package. I didn’t like it, it tastes good but I don’t know…it’s weird…try it! Love you guys

Wow…Hi family I swear the weeks are getting faster and faster. So here is the low down…Monday we went bowling! Last time I beat everyone but this time I did horrible! But oh well it was fun. Tuesday we did divisions with San Jose Pinula. I went there with Elder C from Peru. He has 13 months and is a great missionary. We had a great day. Worked super hard, harder than I worked in a long time and I love it! I miss it! We also had a super spiritual lesson, it was about the restoration of the church and it was my turn to tell about the first vision. While I was telling about the first vision the spirit came so strong we both felt it and they felt it also and we asked them too if they could feel the spirit. Then we explained a little more about the spirit. It was an awesome experience/lesson.
In Pinula they have chocolate covered bananas and they are so good! The first layer is yogurt or cream I’m not sure, that’s frozen then they put chocolate on it dip it in peanuts and then coconut! It’s so good!!!
Later on in the week we helped a member decorate her house for Christmas! I love this area! Cause in what other area in Guatemala would you do that?! You wouldn't! We did divisions Friday with the zone leaders, I went with Elder McNabb. He is such a stud and we've grown to be great friends. So we taught an interesting lesson. He is from the States and inactive. He moved here a year ago cause his wife left him with his kids. So somehow he ended up here teaching English at a very private school. He has had a lot of bad things happen to him and has a lot of anger bottled up inside against God. We got permission to use our iPods so we didn’t have to carry our English scriptures around, well with him we watched a little of a CES fireside of Elder Holland called “Lessons from Liberty Jail.” It talks about 3 points…1. God has not forgotten about us 2. The Savior has been where we have been (we only talked about those 2 points). If you have time watch it cause it is amazing. We watched from 12-34 minutes then we talked a little and basically he said “wow I now know what I have to do.” The spirit was super strong and really touched his heart. Plus I loved teaching in English, but after he said “you guys aren’t used to teaching people in English are you.” Bahaha!!! It’s just the little things that we screw up in English. We also brought him Egg Nog that was 4.5 Q’s, like 50 cents for a liter…it was amazing! So Friday December 7th, I don’t know if I told you about this day last year but it is a crazy tradition called “burning of the devil.” Basically they make devil piñatas and then burn them! Some people go all out and make huge ones. But they fill them up with fireworks and firecrackers. All of Guatemala goes crazy this day. So welp we did too! Bahaha…we burned the devil just only without fireworks (cause we are good little boys :) ).
So Elder McNabb’s comp is a super great missionary, just an all around great guy from Nicaragua. But they are super poor. There were times when they went without food. His Dad left them awhile back and he has never received a letter so when I found that out I promised him I would send one, but while on divisions I still hadn’t sent him the letter so I started to do it…then well it started with a candy bar and a letter and you know how I am once I start it somehow goes like 8 steps farther…so long story short I wanted to get him a little package for Christmas cause he’s not going to be getting anything. So I took some of my Christmas money and bought him a couple of things. I also got McNabb in on it. So after we put them in a box and gave them to the neighbor (who is a member) to doorbell ditch them and leave the box. I am so stoked!!! They are going to do that Christmas eve, but tomorrow (today Monday) they are going to leave some soccer shoes (cause today we are going to play soccer as a zone). So it’s going to be a huge surprise and I’m stoked! We didn’t leave our names…Bahaha…so I will let you know how that goes. We were definitely feeling the Christmas spirit!!! I love it!!! Here in this zone it actually feels like Christmas. Everyone is always out buying and it just feels different in the air!
Well just to wrap up we are going to have a baptism this Saturday! Woot Woot!!! I love baptisms except that they are super stressful. Also, I got your package and I accidently opened it. I love it!!! The calendar is so cool mom. I love it! I truly love it and that article is awesome mom! Your such a stud. I love you and am so proud to have you as my mom and you dad as my dad. I love you guys so much. There are changes coming up and I am probably out of here. They are the 19th. Tuesday the 11th we have our Christmas activity. These weeks are flying by! It is crazy how fast it is going by. Before we know it I’ll be home! Crazy! Anyways just know how much I love you guys! And how much I love this gospel! It brings so many blessings into our lives. I love it! It is so true!!!
Elder Call

Saturday, December 8, 2012

Well I have to say that the boy scored a homerun!!! On Saturday December 1st we received a package from Guatemala...

anxiously we opened the large box weighing almost 9 lbs!!! Upon opening we see many small envelopes and wrapped packages and a letter on top???

It says...TASTE OF GUATEMALA...Welcome to the package entitled "Taste of Guatemala." The purpose of this package is sto give you a small taste of Guatemala through food, culture and other things. There is a designated envelope for every day leading up to Christmas. The rule is you can only open the envelope on the desginated day...o sea no puede abrir todes en las misma noche (you can't or shouldn't open all of them all at once!) ONE A DAY!!!! No cheating, also other rule is that both parents need to be present. It is for you two so hence you both need to be present...I hope you enjoy it!!!
P.S. Some of the things require time. So you will both need to find a common time when you will have a moment to do the task or thing assigned. Also I included some food you can invite others to sample!!! Enjoy!!!
Day 1,2,3,4,5,
Um Hi Family...Well this didn't work out quite as I planned, BUT it still will work. So for your first day go and check snapfish.com and I am going to try my very hardest to have uploaded my photos on December 3rd..but if for whatever reason I don't you guys can start opening envelops the 6th of December!!! And from then on there is something for everyday leading up to Christmas! Love you!!!

Day 6

Hi...Well with this one I don't know if I should tell you before or after you try them what they really are...they are delicious. At least I like them!!! HaHa...try them!!!...They are goat milk suckers. I'm sure you've tried them or something similar before...everyone eats them here! It's crazy!!!
Day 7

So what would be a taste of Guatemala without the music from here?! Here the classic Guatemalan music is the Marimba...that is the classic cultural thing here. I have grown to like it. It takes a little getting used to but it is very relaxing and Guatemalan! Lemme know if you like it! Provecho!
Day 8

TorTrix...what would Guatemala be without TorTrix. These are like hot dog to America or baseball to America! They are classic Guatemala!!! They have a ton of different flavors, like 10 and they are all great! Nothing like a TorTrix and a glass bottle of Coke...Bien Fria!
Well all you blog readers you will just have to wait until next week when I post the next exciting things we received with our count down of 25 days to Christmas!!! Til then...Jan

Friday, December 7, 2012

Sorry I wrote out my emails again.... it’s just that I have like no time!!! Maybe dad could be a scribe for you again....bahaha me and elder see are sitting right next to each other and both our moms shared emails from us...bahaha…ok
Hi family…this week flew by but literally this week from Monday to Thursday was just one giant blur…well first off what’s fresh on my mind is the Christmas Devotional last night. It was so good! And first time this year actually made me miss home! But don’t worry it was only for like 5 minutes! And now I am back to normal! I hope you guys got to see it because it was pretty good…just a couple notes of what I liked was “we need to learn how to receive with graciousness and gratitude” from President Uchtdorf. President Eyring, I really liked hearing from him. He is so genuine and sincere, he taught that creating joy around the Christmas time requires others and President Monson is always amazing, he talked about service. He said true love is a reflection of Christ’s love. Also true happiness comes by making others happy and not by giving gifts but by service and love, “he who gives of himself gives all.” This world is getting more and more focused on giving and the technology aspect of things, but they gently reminded us to refocus ourselves on Christ and the true reason of Christmas. Try to focus more on true meaning of Christmas and not get too caught up in the temporal meaning, give more service! Especially to the older generation! They have done so much for us!!!
So I love this area…we got to choose to go to the stake center to watch the devotional or watch it in our area on a brand new Large 3D flat screen TV. It was huge! And so cool. Have you guys ever tried one of these? They are pretty cool!
Alright…well this week did more divisions and went with Elder Hollingsworth who is in an area called Los Lomas in Zone 16 of the Capital. They went really well. Did 3 more interviews…everyone is baptizing now which is amazing!!! It was fun, as always in divisions, learned a lot, and hopefully taught a little, but I think it is me that is doing all the learning here!!! He goes home 6 weeks after me…speaking of which this Saturday I hit 18 months!!! Say what!!! How crazy is that??? I can’t believe that, doesn’t really feel like that, in a sense that I feel new still! But I do feel like I have been away from home on an adventure living a dream for like a year, but not 18 months?! Crazy, we get to call also!!! Let me apologize in advance if I just speak Spanish the whole time, or better yet if I just listen to you guys speak!
Alright…Wednesday I went back to an area called Fraijanes to do another interview and then back to my area…I have not had the best luck this week. My towel got stolen! We always put them out to dry out front (which is something you shouldn’t ever do in Guatemala) but I figured we are in a residential so it’s OK and I’ve been doing it for 6 months! But we come back and my towel is gone! But my comp was still there…they only stole mine! I think because his smelt too bad Bahaha!!! I was teasing him the whole time about that. So we are going to go to a thrift store to find a replacement.
Friday we got to go to the baptism of the really wealthy but humble guy. It was such a great baptism, the spirit was so strong there, and just to see how happy and seeing him feel the spirit was so humbling it is those moments for which we live for as missionaries. We had an investigator there also; she is going to get baptized the 15th of December. She is soaking it all up and stoked!!!
So my new favorite lesson to teach is the plan of salvation! I love it! I love it so much. I’m making some figures out of foam to teach it. I’m so stoked. It’s gonna take forever but it will be worth it! I don’t know why but I love it, I love having the answers to where we are going, why we are here, like what is our purpose here, and where are we and our loved ones going after this life?! It brings peace and joy to know about the plan, and I am stoked to share this knowledge with others.
So I don’t know if they announced in church Sunday, but the first presidency is challenging us to read the Book of Mormon before next conference in April. I also challenge you guys to accept that challenge!!! It’s only 4 pages if you start now! President Stay has the inside so he challenged us on the 13th of November and I accepted it and I’m going to DO IT! DO IT ALSO!!! But he challenged us to look for 3 things: 1. any reference of Jesus Christ 2. Any words of Christ, 3. Promised blessings/covenants of the Lord. I am looking for those things and there are a ton. It is really strengthening my testimony that the Book of Mormon is another testament of Christ because it only talks about him! I am only in 2 Nephi, but I love it! So will you guys accept that challenge? It’s not from me; it’s from the Prophet of God! I sure hope so because I know you guys will be strengthened spiritually. It’s a Prophetic Promise!!!
Alright, well I love you all so much! I’m listening to “The Forgotten Carols” cause today Mom is going to Vegas to see them. Enjoy them!!! I love you all so much! I hope you all have a great week where ever you are! Remember the true meaning of this Christmas Season and try to help someone out!!! I love you!
Elder Call